J. Robert Oppenheimer “Now I am become death, destroyer of world.” as said by J. Robert Oppenheimer when he saw the first atom bomb detonate. J. Robert was a successful physics professor that led the Manhattan Project to its success. J. Robert Oppenheimer was a very unique individual who had a large impact on American life by leading the Manhattan Project to its success. J. Robert Oppenheimer was born on April 22, 1904 in New York City. His parents were Julius S. Oppenheimer, a rich German textile merchant, and Ella Friedman, an artist. Their apartment was sparsely but tastefully decorated with expensive furniture and paintings from Europe. Julius was a Jew from Germany who started working at a family owned cloth importing …show more content…
One classmate, Jane Kayser said “he was still a little boy; he was very frail, very pinked-cheeked, very shy, and very brilliant of course. Very quickly everybody admitted that he was different from all the others and very superior. As far as studies were concerned he was good in everything.”(Larsen 18) He never walked anywhere as he was always driven and always took the elevator at school. Once graduated from high school, he was accepted to Harvard where he was leaning towards either chemistry or mineralogy. Robert finally chose to start studying physics. After graduating from Harvard, he applied to the University of Cambridge in England, hoping to work with Professor Sir Ernest Rutherford. When he got there he was assigned to work in the lab with Sir Joseph J. Thomson. He was not a natural hand in the lab, even simple tasks gave him trouble. (Larsen 24-25) For three years Robert and Jean Tatlock were in a relationship that was a rocky on and off again romance, while sometimes claiming to be married or engaged. In 1941 Oppenheimer cut all ties with left-wing groups. Katherine Puening Harrison was Roberts next love. She was married to an English doctor. Katherine, also known as Kitty, had been married several times already by the time Robert fell in love with her. Many people were shocked by the speed of this romance that had been blossoming. In 1941 she gave birth to Peter, Kitty and Roberts first